Germany Are In Fashion But England Must Not Forget Its Football Identity, Says Gary Neville: The Nightly EPL

Opinionated pundit Gary Neville is back with his weekly column in The Sunday Mail. Today he writes about how England must not forget is football identity. If you’re a football supporter, it’s an informative read.

For example, Neville discusses how Bayern Munich’s formation that beat Barcelona on Wednesday was straight out of an old school English coaching manual.

“As far as English football is concerned, the German system is as near to our game as we’re going to get in terms of the strength, power, intensity and high tempo. And what Wednesday night’s performance tells you is that with energy, organization and structure — all of which are English characteristics — you can achieve plenty.

Neville closes his opinion piece, by stating:

“It is the time of year when we start trying to find a new footballing identity for our country. Last year Athletic Bilbao beat Manchester United and we needed to be Spaniards. This year, the Bundesliga prevails and we must be Germans.

“But we should maintain perspective. The reality is the quality of the players is paramount in deciding a game, rather than the tactics.

“England need to develop their own football identity but we should embrace what is good from abroad while maintaining faith in our own determination, discipline and work-rate. Ironically, it might have taken two German teams to remind us of that.”

Mark my words, Gary Neville will be the manager of England someday in the future. He has a greater vision of what’s good about the England game and how to adapt elements of the foreign game that can enhance England’s chance. The future looks bright for England with Neville involved on the coaching staff.

The Nightly EPL is tomorrow’s news today. It’s often tomorrow morning’s British newspaper headlines that are published the night before. We do all the work for you, combing the Internet and aggregating the news for you. Read The Nightly EPL on EPL Talk every night before bed, so you can stay on top of all the news that matters.

About The Author

Publisher of World Soccer Talk, Christopher Harris founded the site in 2005. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Guardian and several other publications. Plus he has made appearances on NPR, BBC World, CBC, BBC Five Live, talkSPORT and beIN SPORT.
Harris, who was born and raised in Wales, has lived in Florida since 1984, and supported Swansea City since 1979. Last but not least, he got engaged during half-time of a MLS game.

3 Comments

jtm371May 4, 2013

let me be the first to say GO EVERTON beat the hell out of pool.if you can’t win this year at Anfield you will never get it done.

In any sport, it’s good for a team to have an identity (plan) and for the players and coaches to buy into that identity.

Too many times, teams see what someone else is doing and say “we have to change what we’re doing and copy them”. That would be true if you’ve never had any kind of success. But if your plan is well-developed, you just need to make sure that everyone has bought in and is firing on all cylinders at all times.

There is no 100% plan for anything. And I think you lower the chances for success if you’re constantly ripping up your plan for a new one.